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While you’re here, just to be clear…

...let me say once again that I'm a full-time writer, whose latest book was published not ten minutes ago - if you want to know more about my writing, check out my news blog at Andrew Leon Hudson.

End Trails - Two Stories of the Weird West is the first in a series of ebooks featuring themed collections of short stories or standalone novellas.
In Thirteen Bullets a strange wandering preacher is dragged into a frontier town to face trial, only for a greater challenge to confront him: survival of the fittest. And in The Lying Room an act of misguided injustice is too great for death to contain - but the real betrayer has the final word...

Given Names tells the coming-of-age of a Native American youth who sees the future he imagined torn horribly away from him, leaving only doubt in its place. No-one knows to what destination our journey through life will take us, but one thing is certain: what we are at the end won't be the same as who we were at the beginning...
End Trails Volume Two is a weird western novella about self-perception, and surviving the terrible perils - social and natural - of an uncertain world.

The first in a series of dark fantasy, science fiction and horror ebooks, Dark Matters features two disturbing tales with a bleakly humorous edge. In No-One-One, love is lost to a moment of madness, but how to tell the difference between temporary insanity and the real thing? And The Hungry Dark unveils a frightening side of the comedy scene, where friendship tips over to obsession.

Pay heed to predictions of impending apocalypse! In The lines, the trees, the cliffs, the eaves, catch four glimpses of a world in which one little thing - or billions of them - has gone, and changed us all forever. And in The Blade, see how the pain that is unleashed by a dying world is as nothing next to that which we inflict upon ourselves.

After the apocalypse does come, it's like the song said: you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. In The Seeding, selfish betrayal offers one man the world but promises a harsh reckoning. And in The Diminishing Returns, a lonely man and his last, best friend learn companionship and survival make for untrustworthy bedfellows...

My first published novel, The Glass Sealing, was a Steampunk adventure full of thrills and spills, in which a determined industrial heiress took a stand against convention and a disgraced engineer led a working class revolution. Like the sound of it? Me too, but unfortunately the publisher went under in early 2015, which means it's no longer available.

That will change, but if you don't already have a copy all you can do is read about it on Goodreads.

Wars to End All Wars is an anthology of stories to commemorate the centenary of World War One. My story, The Foundation, argues that we should never forget the tragedies of the past - but also that how we remember them is important too.
I hope you buy a copy. The first year's proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders, a very worthy cause.

This ebook anthology features one of my weird western stories, Thirteen Bullets, as well as twelve other cool and varied tales. It only costs one dollar, and all proceeds from the first year's sales went to help the Children's Hospice South West in the UK - how can you not buy a copy knowing that? :-D

TCT’s Hollywood Interview #20

…with Gil Williamson

The Cartesian Theatre welcomes guests from around the worldosphere, with an invitation to tell us all about themselves – in 25 words or less. Okay, okay, it’s not as bad as all that: they get 25 words per answer. They can wax lyrical if they want, but beware: I edit with an axe…

Continuing my occasional urge to broaden the scope of these little interviews, this week let’s give a big hand to Gil Williamson, a man with more feathers in his cap than most people have caps – which would probably sound better if caps were still commonly worn…

Hi Gil, tell us “all” about yourself.

And he could have told us that in about six languages, too. What is the most inspirational thing you’ve ever read – and why?

Neuromancer by William Gibson – because of first-class writing style and its total departure from traditional sf at the time. It opened up readers’ expectation of cyberspace.

One of my favourites too. What was your first published work?

The TRACK-RECORD Test Assurance System – a paper for ICL Product Development Group’s symposium in 1980. It won me first prize.

Aw, 1980 – I bet you were the cutest little thing in knee-length shorts, blazer and cap. So, I happen to know you publish a speculative fiction magazine online, care to introduce it?

Mythaxis – a serious webzine, concentrating on Science Fiction and Fantasy in the tradition of literary magazines, with readable text and no whizz-bang graphics.

What do you look for in an ideal submission – or a terrible one?

Ideal: Original fiction, mature, consistent writing, appealing plot, readable in ten minutes, good grammar and spelling. Terrible: Lacking many or all of the ideal requirements.

Is there anything you’d like to have published but had to turn down?

Many submissions are full of original ideas or bursting with vitality and would be thrilling to publish, but lack discipline and form. That’s always disappointing.

If only one person was to ever read Mythaxis – who would you want it to be?

John W. Campbell – because I hope he would recognise that the editing tradition he pioneered with Astounding SF between 1937 and 1971 was still remembered and honoured.

Great choice. So, what are you most proud of – in your life, not just your publishing?

Remaining at the leading edge of software from 1964 to date, during most of which I was running a successful business with my wife, Beryl.

Hmm… maybe I had it wrong with the shorts before. What are your plans for the future – all of it?

Improve my golf handicap, take comfortable vacations with Beryl, publish a few more issues of Mythaxis, and participate in the great cyber revolution.

Okay, my thanks to Gil for handling the pressure with ease! Hopefully he will come back one day under more relaxed circumstances – I know for a fact we’ve barely scratched his surface here. In the meantime, why not sample the wares ofMythaxis? The most recent issue has just gone live…